Railway-signal



(No Model.)

o. SBLDEN & G. R. OTT.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLFS SELDEN AND GEORGE R. OTT, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,394, dated May 19, 1891. Application led February l2, 1889. Serial No. 299,581. (No model.)

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, OHARLEs SELDEN and GEORGE R. OTT, citizens of the United States, and residents of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Railway-Signal, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to railway signal apparatus, and has reference more particularly to the mechanism employed in operating or controlling the signal.

Our invention is designed particularly for application tosignalapparatus in which pivoted semaphore arms or blades are employed that are mounted so as to be capable of swinging in a plane at right anglesv to the track and may be moved into different positions by the signal-mamas is well understood in the art. Our invention is, however, applicable to signals of any character, although for the sake of illustration We have herein illustrated our invention as applied to movable semaphore arms or blades.

It has heretofore been 4proposed to employ a single arm or blade, which, being placed at one position-as, for instance, at right angles to its supporting-post-has one significance, at an intermediate angle of, say, forty-five degrees another signiticancafand when brought parallel with the post and behind the shield gives another indication. It has also been before proposed to operate a number of arms or blades by separate hand-levers and connecting-cords.

Our invention consists, essentially, in operating or controlling two or more separate signals or signal-arms by a single hand-lever which is properly connected by the ordinary operating cord or wire with one of said arms and at a proper point in its movement engages with an auxiliary arm or lever ,connected through an operating wire or `cord with another signal or signal-arm. XVe prefer to arrange the mechanism so that on the completion of a movement of the actuating hand-lever to an extent necessary for moving its signal from its normal position to another position having another significance a continuance of the movement of said lever in the same direction shall bring it into engagement with the auxiliary lever and result in moving the second signal through the means of the wire or cord connecting said auxiliary lever with the said second signal. If athird s1gnal be employed, a further movement of the apparatus after the operation of the second signal would, in accordance with ourinvention, result in the engagement of the actuatinglevers at the station of the switchman with an auxiliary lever connected by a wire or cord with such third signal.

Our invention consists, further, in cert-ain organizations of apparatus and combinations of parts to be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Ve also prefer to carry out our invention in connection with signal-arms of different colors. When signal arms or blades are employed, they are preferably provided with holders for glass or other transparent material, which are brought ont of and into line with a light when the signal is employed at night, or said signal-arms may be used with other devices, as Well understood in the art, for giving suitable color indications at night.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows in side elevation an apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 shows in edge view parts of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. l the signal-post A, placed beside the tracks, carries two sets of signal-arms or semaphores B O and B2 O2, which are arranged to swing transversely to the line of the track. One set only of the arms-to wit, B C-is shown connected with operating meollanism for the sake of simplicity. A mechanism similar to that for B O might be employed for operating arms B2 O2 or any additional sets of arms. The arm B is colored red, and when in the horizontal position shown indicates dangen When it isset to vertical position behind the screen D, the indication is safety or line clear. \Vhen the arm C is swung out from behind the screen D to an angle o'f, say, thirty to fifty degrees, the arm B being at the same time in vertical position, the indication is caution or go slowly.

The holders for the two arms B C are indicated at l) c, and are preferably of cast-iron. As the special construction and attachment of these semaphore-arms form no part of the present invention and are shown and described fully in Patent No. 395,181, granted to IOO us December 25,18%, they will not be herein described in detail.

The semaphore-arms l C are operated, respectively, by rods or connections ll H2, attached, respectively, to the holders b e and connected at their lower ends with the weighted levers t?, which latter levers are provided with the usual weights, adapted to give a bias to the arms and to cause the danger-arm to be thrown to dangei position in case of the breakage or detachment of any of the connecting operating parts. The rods ll ll2 are connected to the holders at opposite sides of the fulcrum for the holders, as shown, so that a push upon the rod II, 'tending to lift the same, will throw down the eX- posed end of the arm B, while a similar movement of the rod Il2 will throw out the arm C from its position behind the screen D. The arm B being the danger-signal, it is obvious that the weighted lever t, connected therewith, will cause the signal to show dangerf in case of breakage of the parts or in case ot release ot the hand-lever by which said levert. is operated.

A lever O,placedinthe signal-mans house or in any other desired position, connects by wire or rod N with the upwardly-extending arm of lever t, as shown, so that ou tension being applied to said wire N by means of the lever O the lever t at the signal-post will be operated in such way as to lower the signalarm B. The connection of the wire N with the lever() is by means of a rider mi), which rides on a xed incline mof the stand forlever O, the wire or cord N passing under a drum m5 at or near the point where the lever O is mounted. The lever O passes loosely through the rider nr", so that on swinging the lever O over toward the point? ot theineline the rider m3 will be carried up said incline and will exercise a pull upon the wire N, thereby operating the signal-arm B, so as to lower the same in obvious manner.-

The lever t2, which operates upon the signal-arm C, connects by a wire or cord N2, leading from said lever to the stand of the operating-lever O, with a supplemental or auxiliary lever r, pivot-ed on said stand and arranged to be engaged by the lever O at a determinate point in its swing when it is moved over from the position shown in full lines and in the direction of thearrow toward its opposite limit of movement. rl`he point where the lever O engages with the auxiliary lever r is at or about the point of the way or guide upon which the rider mi* moves. After passing suoli point the rider m3 produoes no further effect upon the cord connected with it, because of the fact that the rail or guide on which said rider moves is thereafter inclined downward on suoli a line that the tendency ot the cord to be shortened .through winding over the pulley m5 shall be compensated for by the rider being allowed to move in nearer to the pulley. llence in the latter portion of the movement of the lever t) no elleet is produced upon the arm ll or its holder after it has once been brought to vertical position, although during such portion of the movement of lever O it will operate upon the lever fr and through the oonnecting-wire l\"`l act upon the signal-arm C.

The general operation ot the device is as follows: Normally the parts are in the position as indicated in Fig. l, which is the position which they will naturally assume bythe action of the biasing-weights ot theleverst l when the operating-lever O is released. In order to give the indication olf safety by throwing the arm or signal B out of sight the lever O is turned to the right or in the direction of the arrow until it reaches, say, the point T on the rail or way for rider on. Neither arm is then in view, and at night the glass G for holder h will have been thrown out of line with the lamp. In order to give the indication ot eautionj7 the lever O is moved forward still farther in the same direction, thereby causing it to engage with the auxiliaryleverv1 and to throw the arm C out at an angle, at the same time bringing the glass G for said arm into line with the lantern.

lt is obvious that according to the proportioning of the parts the arm C will be moved outward and upward to a greater or less eX- tent. On allowing the lever O to move back to the point 7 under the action of the biasingweights both signal-arms will be obscured, and on permitting a farther movelnent backward to the original position the arm B will be raised into the danger position by the action of the biasing-weights.

\Vhat we claim as our invention isl. The combination, with two independent signal arms or blades, of an operating-lever connected with one of said arms through a suitable wire or oord, and an auxiliary lever connected with the other arm or blade and placed in the path of said operating hand-lever, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a railway signal apparatus, the conibination, with two signal arms or blades, one indioatingsafetyand the othe1dangerand adapted to be alternately exposed to view, of an operating hand-lever connected through a suitable wire or cord with one of said arms or blades, and an auxiliary lever connected to the other arm or blade and disposed, as described, to be engaged bythe operatinghandlever on a continuance of the movement of the said lever in the same direction after the signal directly connected therewith has been obscured.

3. In a railway signal apparatus, the combination, with two signals, of two levers t 2, independently connected therewith, an operating hand-lever O, connected with one of said levers through a suitable cord or wire, and an auxiliary lever connected with the other and disposed in position to be engaged by said operating-lever on a movement thereof to a predetermined point, as and for the purpose described.

IIO

4L. The combination, with the two signal arnis or blades, of independent connecting rods and wires leading` from the point Where the signal-man is stationed, an operating hand-lever connected with one of said arms, and an auxiliary lever disposed inthe path of the operating hand-lever and connected with the operating devices of the other arm.

5. The combinationvith the signal-operating lever O, of a rider m3, loosely connected therewith and moving over a suitable rail or guide inclined upward to a predetermined point, a connecting Wire or cord connecting said rider With the signal-arm, and an auxiliary lever disposed in position to be struck by the operating-lever When the rider has reached the highest point of the incline, said auxiliary lever being connected with a second signal-arm, as and for the purpose described.

G. The combination, substantially as described, of a danger-signal, an operating-lever therefor, a cautionary signal, and an actuating-lever for the latter disposed, as described, in position to be engaged by the actuatinglever of the irst signal when said irst signal has been thrown out of signal position.

Signed at the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, this 11th day of February, A. D. 1889.

CHARLES SELDEN. Witnesses:

MURRAY HANsoN, WILLIAM I-I. BERRY.

Signed at the town of Garrett, in the county of De Kalb and State of Indiana, this 8th day of February, A. D. 1889.

GEORGE R. OTT.

Witnesses:

L. CONELL, H. R. COFFINBURY. 

